Sunday, April 24, 2016

Android vs. iOS

iOS 9 vs Android Marshmallow

Round 1: 3rd Party Apps

Android:

Android Marshmallow's app selection has improved greatly since its predecessors. The Play Store has grown exponentially since its early days as the Android Market. Many new apps are released on iOS first, and piracy is very easy with an Android device. A lot of apps are half-baked, or incomplete. The blame isn't on the OS, but the developers. Many applications are high-quality, but for every great app, two terrible apps are released. Malware is a growing issue, but it still is not too significant. Privacy settings in Android Marshmallow give users better control of the components an app can access.

Pros:

Newer apps have a unified "Material Design" UI

Universal navigation in most apps with the navigation buttons at the bottom of the device

Development for the platform is free

Cons:

Development for Android is sometimes an afterthought

Malware and junk apps fill a lot of the store

Many apps serve no function, or are bloated

Conclusion - Google Play and its unified Google account support is very nice, especially with the ability to download apps across a large range of devices. Android also allows you to use other app stores, such as the Amazon Appstore and AppBrain. Android app files, known as APKs, can be downloaded right from the device and loaded without the need for a store. This leads to possibility of malware, but the built-in security features should keep it out.

As I said previously, the app support does not match iOS yet.

Rating: 8/10

iOS:

iOS 9 gives developers new APIs, such as Swift 2 and Metal, with optimizations made for every device that runs iOS. The specifications of the iPhone 6S on paper are much worse than the newer Android phones such as the Galaxy S7, but the application optimization is significantly better on iOS due to the smaller range of handsets. Malware is not much of a problem without a jailbreak, although it has slipped through the cracks before. A majority of apps on iOS are a decent quality, but many are throw-away, or can't run properly due to lacking updates. The same can be said for Android, but iOS gets most new apps first.

Pros:

iOS gets most apps first

Apple has a history with providing proper development tools

Apple developers must pay $100 USD a year as a precaution to stop useless apps from entering the store, along with strict review processes

Cons:

Apple is 100% in control of their app store

Emulators, tweaks, and custom launchers are not available

Many apps have no function

Apple developers must pay $100 USD a year to publish their apps

Conclusion - The iOS App Store was revolutionary, and had the edge on Android for a long time. The Google Play Store has caught up to it, and now gives developers more options and allows for apps to be placed in the store for free. Apple's developer fee has slowed new developers from joining, while filtering junk apps from the store. The lack of 3rd party app stores and app-loading from the device cause it to lack an openness that I personally would like, although most users don't use the feature in any case.

Developing a mobile application can be difficult, especially when you are building for more than one platform. But, Apple has a significant advantage over Android. Apple smart phones remain extremely popular in large urban areas. If your application relies on in-app purchases for success, iOS application generate four times more revenue per user than Android. Additionally, iOS offers more stability because the Android platform is based on open licensing.